CNaught maintains a very high quality standard for all projects in the portfolios we manage. To ensure that a project meets this standard, we perform due diligence thatโs backed up by third-party ratings agenciesโ independent due diligence.
Additionality:
This project has high additionality. The project area has an established history of intensive logging activities that would have continued under business-as-usual conditions. The project provides comprehensive evidence that participating landowners have historically engaged in logging operations, supported by direct attestations from landowners confirming their intention to continue logging in the absence of carbon financing. Calyx Global excludes these attestations from their evaluation, which heavily contributes to their lower rating and is, in part, why we think this rating is not appropriate for this project, while Sylvera incorporates this evidence, resulting in their higher assessment. The project also includes a thorough regulatory analysis demonstrating that forest conservation was not legally mandated in the project area, further supporting the additionality case.
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Over-Crediting:
This project has a low risk of over-crediting, meaning that it is likely to have accurately accounted for the amount of carbon emissions being avoided and removed from the atmosphere. The project employs conservative methodologies throughout its carbon accounting framework, including rigorous field inventory processes and substantial leakage deductions. Our remote sensing analysis found that typical parcels in this area experience an average of 81% harvesting while this projectโs baseline assumes that 90% of all parcels will be harvested. However, the projectโs baseline harvest rate is still well-substantiated as they provided comprehensive data showing over 1,000 landowners in the project region harvested 90%+ of their forested acres from 2021-2023.
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Durability:
This project activity is highly durable as we are confident in its ability to provide permanent emissions reductions and removals. The project’s durability is secured through direct partnerships with local landowners who have committed to maintaining forest conservation practices throughout the crediting period, supported by ATFS certification requirements that mandate ongoing sustainable forest management practices. The project demonstrates low risk exposure to natural disturbances such as fire or storm damage, with regional conditions not presenting significant threats to long-term carbon storage.
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Double-Counting:
The project credits have a very low risk of being double counted. There are no regulatory obligations being met by the project activity and the projectโs registry, ACR, has mechanisms in place to ensure that the project is not registered in any other programs. We also confirmed that the project does not overlap with any other forest carbon projects to ensure that its credits are not claimed by other projects.
